


Goro Akechi Falls Down The Stairs

by vivvav



Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Gen, The AFR Universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-06
Updated: 2018-05-06
Packaged: 2019-05-03 01:37:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,439
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14558019
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vivvav/pseuds/vivvav
Summary: Akechi has a nasty fall. The Phantom Thieves aren't very upset about it.





	Goro Akechi Falls Down The Stairs

**Author's Note:**

> This whole thing is just raw, self-indulgent, petty Akechi hatefic. If you're one of those people who really likes Akechi, you're probably better off skipping this. If you're like me and hate the bastard's guts, make yourself comfortable.

“So we’re all clear for tomorrow?” Ren asked.

He was met with nods all around. It was a bit cramped, trying to fit eight people and a cat in the attic of Leblanc along with all the chairs and the folding table, but it was the only place the Phantom Thieves could meet with absolute security.

“Great.” Ren rose from his chair. “Then we secure the route to the Treasure tomorrow. We WILL change Prosecutor Niijima’s heart. Meeting adjourned.”

“And then you’ll keep your promise,” Akechi said, “right?”

“Yes. Once this operation is complete, the Phantom Thieves of Hearts…” Ren's speech suddenly lost all of its gusto. “Will disband for good. This operation will be our grand finale.”

“Excellent.” Akechi gave a big smile as he rose from the table, the other Phantom Thieves following suit. He made his way to the stairs down from Ren’s room as he continued. “I would like to extend my thanks to you all for being such good sports about this. I realize this isn’t an ideal situation for you, but in time I believe you’ll come to see this is the best outcome for everybody.”

“I suppose we'll just have to wait and see” Haru said cheerily.

“Oh?” Akechi stopped at the top of the stairs and looked back at Haru. “What do you mean by that?”

“You may just find that your opinion of our activities changes when we achieve our goal.” Haru winked at Akechi. “Changing hearts can be a very rewarding experience, Akechi-Kun. When all is said and done, you may just want to continue our work after all!”

Haru punctuated this statement by patting Akechi on the back. Except it was far greater than a pat. It was an almighty slap, a slap with the kind of force one would not expect outside of a sumo ring. Powerful enough to throw Akechi off his balance.

And unfortunately for him, as he teetered about, Akechi lost control of himself, the brunt of his weight bringing him over the top of the stairway.

“Oh dear!”

Haru reached out as Akechi began to fall, not quick enough to catch him. In truth, she probably could’ve reached out to him a little faster. She also could’ve gone easier on his back. But she didn’t want to. Akechi couldn’t see it, but the corners of Haru’s mouth began to twist upwards, just a little bit. Things had been so hard for her lately. In the loss of her father, Haru had to put up with so many headaches relating to Okumura Foods and Sugimura. And she had gotten through the worst of it thanks to the support of Ren, but then she had to deal with the heartbreak of Ren rejecting her affections. And through it all, she had to see that face. That smug, lying, fake-nice face. The face of the person who killed her father. And she had to pretend to be his friend, or at least his ally. To have some kind of camaraderie with him. Every time she saw that smile, she felt a pit form in her stomach. Every time he said something to her in that over-practiced friendly tone, the flames of rage grew inside of her.

It was completely abhorrent to her. Goro Akechi took away her father. Maybe he wasn’t a very good father, but there was love there all the same. Things were supposed to be better. Her father was supposed to atone, to begin down the road to being the great man she had always perceived him as being when she was little. He’d probably lose social standing, maybe even go to prison for a while, but they were going to reconcile through it all, to grow closer. For the first time since her mother’s death, Haru was going to know what it felt like to be part of a family again. And now that was all gone. Haru had been forced to watch as her father keeled over, black bile leaking from his face, his features contorted into a ghastly visage that haunted her every time she closed her eyes. And if he had his way, Akechi would take more from her in the near future. Killing him wasn’t an option. As much as she hated him, Haru genuinely couldn’t say if she had that kind of ferocity in her, even with this whole new side of herself she’d discovered fighting Shadows. But if she could make it look like an accident, and she knew she could, she had no problem causing him a little pain in this moment.

Akechi let out a surprised shout as he went over, his feet having missed steps completely, his whole body now in the air, about to begin its painful downward descent.

“Holy shit!”

It took all of Ryuji’s willpower to stifle the laughter hidden right under those words. Frankly, this was the most self-control he’d exhibited in the past year. More than when he was trying to apologize to Morgana, certainly more than all the times he’d blabbed about being Phantom Thieves in public. He’d always hated Akechi. Sure, there was a lot of bias there, after all, the guy had been badmouthing the Phantom Thieves on TV basically as long as Ryuji had known who Goro Akechi was. But the past few weeks were just a whole new level of bullshit. Ryuji wasn’t particularly good at disguising his feelings. And thankfully, with Akechi’s condition of the Phantom Thieves disbanding, he didn’t have to do a lot of acting, and was able to let his contempt for Akechi leak out then and again. But the fact that this guy was trying to play them for fools and kill his best friend was just unbelievable. Ryuji didn’t know what kind of sicko you had to be to act like Goro Akechi, and frankly, he didn’t wanna know. In the moment, he just wanted to enjoy the catharsis.

Akechi yelped in pain as his back came into contact with a few steps at once, the hard wooden edges particularly hurting his spine.

“Oooh…” Ann hissed as she heard the thud of the impact. “That looks bad.”

Those words were one of the rare moments where Ann didn’t have to act in Akechi’s presence. This whole fake team-up had really been stressing her out. She wasn’t a good liar. And just pretending to get along with the jerk was a performance Ann was NOT equipped to execute. She had been unnaturally quiet during his involvement with the group, always worried her bad acting would let it slip that they knew his true nature and had been preparing to trick him. Until now, being with the Phantom Thieves had been the most fun thing Ann could imagine. For the last few weeks, it had been one of the most nerve-wracking, which is why she was really glad for this moment. One fleeting moment where she could be genuine in the presence of all her friends again. Because it was true. Just imagining the pain Akechi must’ve been feeling as he hit the stairs was unpleasant. Ann was just glad she hadn’t added some line about feeling bad FOR him, otherwise she might’ve gone back into bad acting mode.

“Indeed” Yusuke said as he watched Akechi bounce a little into the air before his fall continued.

Of course, Yusuke wasn’t referring to the fall itself, just the man currently caught in it. There was no getting around it. Goro Akechi was an ugly person. And not quite in the ‘his face is pleasing but he’s ugly on the inside’ way, although that was certainly true. Oh sure, to the layman, Goro Akechi was a very handsome young man. His facial features and overall build were anything but hideous. But to the keen artistic eye that Yusuke possessed, there was an ugliness that couldn’t be ignored. An insincerity present in every smile, an oh-so-slight strain in his facial muscles as he pretended to be the congenial fellow he presented himself as to the world. The human smile could be the most beautiful thing in the world, even on the most misshapen, deformed, gargoyle-like individual. It conveyed something from the depths of a person’s soul, a true joy they felt, the simple fact that they, if only for a moment, found the world good. Akechi’s smile did not convey this. There was a soullessness to it. It was hollow. Every one of Yusuke’s friends had a smile that he could find a painting in, even Futaba. But when he looked at Akechi’s smile, he thought trying to capture its essence in a painting would just be a waste of a perfectly good canvas. He was very much looking forward to the time when he’d no longer have to see it anymore, and although he did not particularly enjoy the fact that Akechi was in pain at this moment, at least he didn’t have to stomach another false smile in this moment.

As Akechi’s tumble continued, he didn’t let out another shout of pain. This time, his stomach made contact with the stairs first, knocking the wind out of him, a pathetic gasp the only sound that escaped his mouth, completely drowned out by the sound of his body’s impact against the stairs.

Futaba frowned silently as she watched the fall. It was not a false expression on her part. She was genuinely upset by this turn of events. The guy who killed her mother was falling down the stairs like a total chump and even as she instinctually reached for her phone, it would already be over by the time she was ready to hit the record button. Sure, Futaba’s memory was amazing, the closest you could get to photographic without officially being diagnosed with eidetic memory, and she could enjoy this moment playing in her head over and over for years to come, but even Futaba’s memory would deteriorate eventually. She wished Haru had let her know she was planning this, or invited her to take part in it, or just given her some kind of signal to get her camera ready. After the literal years of pain and misery Akechi had caused Futaba, she figured she deserved to enjoy this moment as much as possible, even if it meant watching it over and over and over again for hours on end.

Was this healthy? Probably not. But being convinced she was responsible for her mother’s death wasn’t healthy. Being starved and abused wasn’t healthy. Shutting herself in her room for years wasn’t healthy. This was a long time coming. Futaba and Ren had gone over the plan a million times, and for how great it was, ‘kick Akechi’s ass’ was not a part of it. They had to pretend Akechi was their ally WHILE Ren was getting arrested. Akechi would think the Phantom Thieves were no more, giving them the room they needed to find the mastermind behind the conspiracy and change his heart. And when they did, and the big bad confessed, he’d surely bring Akechi down with him. But there was no final showdown in sight Futaba could see. Persona users couldn’t have a Palace, so it’s not like they could change Akechi’s heart and beat up his Shadow and make him confess his own crimes. This was all the pain Futaba was going to get to see Akechi in probably ever, and she was going to savor every moment of it. After everything he’d put her through, he deserved a million times more than this, but Futaba would just have to make do with this memory.

Akechi didn’t bounce again. He just started sliding down the stairs, a series of unpleasant-sounding bumps accompanying the final leg of his painful journey.

“Goodness!”

Makoto didn’t try particularly hard to make her cry of concern convincing. It’s not like Akechi could hear her at this point. It was a good thing she’d become so adept at hiding her rage, because she had zero patience for this boy or his nonsense. Although she hadn’t faced the facts before, the truth was, Makoto had been harboring a lot of negative feelings towards Akechi for a while. And it wasn’t just before she learned he was planning to kill her boyfriend, or when he made a deal to break up the Phantom Thieves, or his anti-Phantom Thief statements on the news after she joined the team, or even when he insulted her by calling her a pushover all those months ago on the day of their practice exams. As with many things in her life, it all came back to her sister. In the past, Sae had been one of Makoto’s heroes, a role model, an inspiration. And even as they were actively going through the woman’s Palace, that still held a little true. Sure, Makoto’s admiration for Sae could waver from time to time, but her love for her sister never did, even in the older Niijima’s crueler moments. But Sae just didn’t show Makoto the attention or affection that she used to when they were girls, and while maybe even without dead parents that may have been a natural part of growing up, for the past few years, Sae had been almost constantly absent in Makoto’s life.

And where was she during so much of that time that they were apart? With Goro Akechi. The teen detective, another brilliant youth, one Sae partnered up with, talked about work with, treated to dinner for a job well done, even. There were nights Sae didn’t come home to the dinner Makoto had lovingly made for her because Akechi had pestered the older woman into buying him sushi. Makoto had never admitted it, never even given much thought to it, but there was a part of her that was actually jealous of Goro Akechi. Jealous because it felt like he was stealing her sister away from her. And if that wasn’t enough, all of that time, Akechi had been deceiving Sae, performing villainous acts behind her back, acting as the very source of the mental shutdowns that plagued Sae to no end, made her job all that much harder. That little rat bastard had the sheer gall to lie to Makoto’s big sister, not to mention Makoto herself and all of her friends. He was planning to kill Ren, one of the most important people in Makoto’s life! And there was no telling what he’d do after that. What if, when all was said and done, his masters ordered him to kill Sae too? Makoto couldn’t let that happen. She WOULDN’T let that happen. But there was no opportunity for her to bring down the fist of justice on the sister-stealing criminal herself, so appreciating Haru’s deft maneuver would have to serve as her consolation prize.

Finally, Akechi’s fall down the stairs came to an end, and he lay at the bottom of the stairwell, moaning in pain.

“Are you ok, Crow!?”

Morgana was the first to act, dashing down the stairs after him. It was very important that Akechi wasn’t injured. Not that Morgana cared for his wellbeing. Akechi was scum. As far as unpleasantness went, he was like Ryuji without any of the redeeming qualities, times a hundred. But Akechi was the Phantom Thieves’ secret weapon, even if he didn’t know it. Yes, he was also the secret weapon of the conspiracy, but the Phantom Thieves knew that and could turn it around on their enemies. But the plan verged on Akechi being present for the battle against Sae’s Shadow, which meant he had to be in fighting condition, which meant if he got seriously hurt beforehand, the Phantom Thieves were screwed. If Akechi broke his leg or something, that meant the arrest of Ren may not happen, and then they may not be able to fake Ren’s death, and then the Phantom Thieves would have to stop stealing hearts for a while lest Akechi thought they were reneging on their promise and expose their identities to the media, which wouldn’t let them come up with another plan to shake their enemies off their tail. And that was a best-case scenario. Worst-case, if Akechi were seriously injured, he may believe that this was a tactic to deliberately hurt him after discovering his true nature, and there was no telling what he’d do then. Goro Akechi was a monster and Morgana couldn’t wait to be rid of him, but for the immediate future, they needed him. And so Morgana began inspecting his body for any signs of serious damage, the rest of the Phantom Thieves joining him.

“Dude, that was a nasty fall!” Ryuji yelled.

“Is anything broken?” Ann asked. Technically something she was actually wondering, so no acting needed.

“Can you stand on your own?” Makoto grabbed Akechi’s shoulder, but the boy shook her off.

“I believe I can” Akechi said. He slowly rolled over onto all fours, then rose to his feet, hand pressed against the wall for support and smiling through the pain. “I am sore all over, but I don’t believe I’ve sustained any permanent damage.”

“I’m so sorry, Akechi-Kun!” Haru had wiped the smile from her face, getting back into character. “Lately it seems I don’t know my own strength, and I didn’t consider what would happen if I patted your back so close to the stairs! Are you alright!?”

“Of course, Haru-San. I understand that it was an accident.” Akechi tried to laugh the whole thing off, but winced. “I’m not bleeding anywhere, am I?”

“I don’t see any blood” Yusuke said.

“You don’t seem to have any external lacerations,” Futaba said, “but I wouldn’t be surprised if you had some bruises tomorrow.”

“I suspect you may be right.” Akechi kept up his smile, even faker than usual. “Still, some lingering pains aside, I feel fine for the moment, and so it’s time to head home.”

“Are you sure about that?” Ren asked. “You don’t want to go to a doctor or the hospital or something?”

“I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about.”

“I don’t know…” Ren scratched his chin. “How about I walk you to the station, just to make sure?”

“Is that an order from our leader?”

“Uh…” Ren shrugged. “I guess? Yeah, why not?”

“Well, I suppose I have no choice then, do I?”

Ren kept a close eye on Akechi as they made their way to the Yongen-Jaya train station. While Akechi was moving slower thanks to the pain, it really did seem as if nothing was broken, which meant Ren didn’t have to bring him over to Takemi’s clinic. And that was important, because the fewer people in Ren’s life Akechi got involved with, the better. Ren just had no way of knowing what was going through this guy’s head right now, but he was trying not to be too worried about it. Even if he did think that Haru deliberately attacked him and the group was onto him, the plan was going down in less than a week. The Phantom Thieves would send Sae the calling card, infiltrate her Palace, Ren would get captured, and then either he’d be dead or Akechi and his masters would leave them all alone for a while. Akechi probably didn’t have time to formulate another plan, and when things seemed to be going right for him, he’d probably dismiss any suspicions he had of the Phantom Thieves knowing his true nature from this incident. Still, that didn’t mean Ren wasn’t worried at all. There was just no telling what would happen from that point onward. For all Ren knew, Akechi had plans to assassinate each and every one of his friends, and possibly Sojiro too. Ren didn’t want to put anybody else in danger, and taking Akechi to Takemi’s clinic would certainly be endangering the doctor if things didn’t go well.

“Well, here we are” Ren said as they arrived at the station. “You good to ride the train by yourself?”  


“You really don’t need to concern yourself over me, Ren-San.” Akechi stood tall and proud, albeit a bit shakily. “I’m fine. I’m sure a good night’s sleep and some painkillers will solve all my problems.”

“Alright then” Ren said. “See you tomorrow.”

“Yes, until tomorrow!”

Akechi waved as he vanished into the train station. Ren waved back, smiling if for no reason other than he didn’t have to expose his doctor to Akechi now. After all, even if everything did go right, Ren just didn’t see any reason to introduce the two. It’s not like Dr. Takemi needed another asshole in her life.

**Author's Note:**

> So APPARENTLY the day I posted this is some kind of Goro Day. I did not know that. Really funny timing to post a hatefic, huh?


End file.
